Exploring the Quality of Continuous Assessment in Primary Schools

Introduction

Primary education is one of the most important foundations for development of a citizen as well as a nation. Primary education shapes a child’s physical, intellectual, emotional and social growth; the life skills learned at a critical time enables a child to achieve successes throughout the life (Wyse & Torrance, 2009). In recent decades, conforming to the idea that ‘every child has the right to education’, most developing countries has introduced free and compulsory education. Saudi Arabian education system has also achieved significant success in primary school enrolment and retention that has also made significant contribution in increasing the literacy rate (Hamomoud, 2006; Barber et al., 2007; Marounet et al., 2008).

However, there is a wide debate among educators and policy makers over an optimal assessment system for primary education that would enhance students’ learning outcomes and meet national objectives related to primary education (Gipps & Alison, 2006; Wyse & Torrance, 2009). While summative assessment is administered at the end of a term/study period, a continuous/formative assessment involves the application of an on-going process of evaluation (Gardner, 2006; Harlen, 2005; Nitko & Brookhart, 2011). Until the end of the last century, as Al-Sadan (2000) reports, in Saudi Arabian primary schools only 30% of the total mark in a subject was allocated for continuous assessment during the term (e.g. periodic tests).

However, in the new millennium, following the models adopted by Singapore and South Korea, Saudi Arabia has reformed the education system to improve quality in all levels (Akkari, 2004; Barber et al., 2007; Maroun et al., 2008; Yamini, 2006). Accordingly, continuous assessment practices have been widely adopted by the Saudi education system to raise the quality of education. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia has not been able to achieve the targeted improvement in education, although the country has made huge investment in education (Akkari, 2004; Krieger, 2007; Maroun et al., 2008).

The proposed research is based on the proposition that the concurrent challenges faced by the Saudi Arabian education system are rooted to the poor performance of the primary education; and there is a serious need to improve the quality of the continuous assessment in the primary education. To date there has been no study on this issue. Therefore, using a survey instrument to gather information from teachers, the proposed research intends to explore the ideal strategies related to continuous assessment in primary schools in Saudi Arabia, which will ultimately contribute towards improving the overall quality of education in the country.

Literature review

Types of assessments:

In education, Assessment involves employing different ways to gather data about the teaching and the learning by the students (Hanna & Dettmer, 2004). The collected data helps in the evaluation process, where the teachers infer the data to determine how things are progressing. That, in turn, helps in taking decisions to improve the teaching process and methods so that the learning improves. Assessment is a part of planning, focuses on how the students learn, promotes understanding of goals and criteria and helps learners know how to improve (DOTE 2012). Broadly, there are three types of assessment, diagnostic, summative and formative.

Diagnostic assessment is designed to identify areas of weakness and strength (DOTE 2012). It helps identify the student’s current knowledge of a subject, his skill sets and capabilities, and to clarify misconceptions before teaching takes place. Knowing students’ strengths and weaknesses can help the teachers better plan what & how to teach. Pretests, self-assessments,  discussion board responses, and interviews are examples of diagnostic assessment (NIU n.d.).

Formative assessment (FA) is used to map/monitor learning progress during a learning. The assessment provides information on progress, and identifies and addresses areas that require improvement / development (DOTE 2012). FA provides continuous feedback and information during the teaching / learning process and measures the progress being made by the student. It also helps assess the progress being made by the teacher. These assessments are usually not graded, but help understand learning progress, and to make the teaching more effective. Examples of FA include, observations during in-class activities, homework exercises as review for exams and class discussions), reflection journals that are reviewed periodically during the semester, question and answer sessions, both formal and informal (spontaneous), and feedback from students on instruction and their self-assessment of the performance and progress (NIU n.d). FA is referred to as assessment for learning.

Formative assessment approach creates opportunity for teachers to modify pedagogical styles continually to enhance student’s learning (Harlen, 2005; Harlen & Gardner, 2006). Formative assessment enhances motivation for both teachers and learners; it is an effective way of empowering both teachers and learners; also as a democratic process, it creates opportunity for various other stakeholders, such as parents and guardians to interact (Heritage, 2010; Nicol et al., 2006). Using formative assessment assist teachers to monitor the progress of students’ learning (Nitko & Brookhart, 2011). Improving formative assessment has a great effect in raising standards of achievement (Black and William, 1998). This approach allows teachers to explore strengths and weaknesses of every learner and provides them with effective feedback to revise the work on the basis of that feedback; thus learners can take an active role in the learning process and develop self-awareness and cumulative confidence (Harlen, 2005; Stiggins, 2005; Stobart & gardner, 2006).

Summative assessment is generally completed at the end of a unit of work (e.g. end of semester or term) to document the level of achievement. This assessment can provide feedback to the teacher about the effectiveness of the unit of work (DOTE 2012). So it takes place after the learning has been completed, and normally wen no more formal learning is taking place. It helps assess what has been learned and how well it it has been learned. It indicates the level of knowledge to determing the suitability to go to the next class or level. It is more product-oriented and assesses the final product, whereas formative assessment focuses on the process toward completing the product. Types of summative assessment include examinations (major, high-stakes exams), term papers (drafts submitted throughout the semester would be a formative assessment) and projects (project phases submitted at various completion points could be formatively assessed) (niu n.d.). It is also called assessment of learning.

With summative assessments, the evaluation of a student’s learning is conducted after he/she completes a task; on the other, with continuous/formative assessments, the teacher places emphasis on improving the process adopted by the student in accomplishing the task, thus, in the latter case, the evaluation is an ongoing process. In the literature, continuous assessment has been considered as a ‘time-honoured practice’ (Harlen, 2005, p. 207). Assessment for learning transfers from summative to formative assessment by enhancing students’ learning and providing them feedback highlighting strengths and weaknesses of each student (Earl, 2003). Continuous assessment is considered as ‘the use of assessment for learning’, while summative assessment is viewed as the ‘assessment of learning (Berry, 2009; Carles, 2005; Earl, 2003; Gardner, 2006; Harlen, 2005). In continuous assessment the main emphasize is placed on learning rather than assessment and it is referred to as ‘the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers, to identifying where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there’ (ARG, 2002).

As per Caffrey (2009), summative and formative assessments must be closely aligned in terms of the test content and goals. The formative assessment should have the ability to predict achievement on a summative assessment.

From the above definitions, it is clear that diagnostic assessment takes place before the learning starts, FA is a process followed during the learning and summative assessment is done periodically to measure the effectiveness of learning. All the three types have their role and place, but formative has elements of the other two methods as well.

Continuous Assessment : Definition

Continuous Assessment (CA) is defined in numerous dictionaries and literature. Several governments have defined the concept in their policies and programs. As per Oxford Dictionaries (2013), continuous assessment is the evaluation of student’s progress throughout a course of study, as distinct from by examination. It is used to decide whether or not children have attained their reading targets. Macmillan Dictionary (2013)  defines it as ‘A way of judging a student by looking at the work that they do during the year instead of or in addition to looking at their examination results.’ As per Collins Dictionaries (2013), ‘It is the assessment of a pupil’s progress throughout a course of study rather than exclusively by examination at the end of it.’

As per Ramalepe (2010), ‘it is an on-going process of gathering and interpreting information about student learning that is used in making decisions about what to teach and how well students have learned’. It is a model used to determine a student’s achievement during the course of a grade or level, provide information that is used to support his development, and help make improvements in the learning and teaching process (p.9). As per Rous & Townley (2006), continuous assessment system includes both formal and informal assessments, it is conducted on a regular basis, integrated with instructions, helps improve learning, helps guide the teaching-learning process, and provides information on every aspect of the instruction and curriculum.

As evident from the above definitions, CA is a continuous process, and helps get timely information about how the learning is progressing. This helps the students and the teachers identify the problems and take corrective action to optimize the learning process. This is different from summative assessment which is periodical, and helps determine what has been achieved. For example, grades or marks obtained in an examination help decide whether the student is suitable to go to the next level.

Purposes of continuous assessment:

Any assessment is intended to guide the students, change instructions, convey expectations and document the progress. It helps provide information about the program by monitoring the outcomes, provides the basis for planning, helps implement improvements, and helps in proper allocation of resources (Carlson, Humphrey & Reinhardt 2003).

A continuous assessment (CA) system includes both formal and informal assessments that are conducted on a regular basis. It is integrated with the instruction, improves learning, and helps guide and direct the teaching-learning process. Ideally, it should provide information about every aspect of instruction and curriculum. The objectives of assessment include promoting child learning and development, monitoring trends and evaluating programs and services, and Assessing developmental progress to hold individual children, teachers, and schools accountable (Rous & Townley 2006). CA provides each student with individual feedback which allows him and his teachers to take actions most suited to improve their learning. Continuous assessment also supports designing  of assessment tasks which fit the interests of a group of learners (NIED 1999).

As per Carlson, Humphrey & Reinhardt (2003), continuous assessment is formative by nature. It serves various purposes. The continuous monitoring helps gather information continuously, which determines the next steps to support the student’s learning progress. The support is more timely, and is not after it is too late. It helps plan and execute the teaching methods on a more continuous basis. It enhances student learning by catalyzing deeper thinking and understanding. This is partly due to the enhanced support of the teachers. CA also helps in the professional growth of the teachers. This is because the continuous monitoring helps them understand and guide the students better. This helps them become more reflective about the methods of teaching being employed by them. They are able to change their teaching methods and style to help the students perform and learn better. The interactions with colleagues also becomes more enriching as all teachers are themselves learning continuously. Importantly, it provides information to report students’ progress. This result is akin to what is achieved through the summative technique. This is because data collected in the continuous process helps understand the progress the student is making.

As per Ramalebe (2010), CA promotes frequent interaction between students and teachers which enables teachers to know the strengths and weaknesses of students. This helps identify theh students who need review and remediation. The problems are identified and corrected before one reaches the summative assessment stage.  CA helps develop students’ knowledge, skills and values, gauge the  strength and weaknesses, it lends extra support to students, make changes to the curriculum as required, and motivate and encourage students. The methods used in CA help the students develop independent and critical thinking patterns, skills of effective communication. The students learn to work collaboratively with colleagues / peers. They also learn the work ethics required to complete tasks such as investigation, research projects, and interviews. Here, the teachers are placed at the center of all performance-assessment activities, and so it encourages their enhanced participation in the assessment process. It is guidance oriented, and helps get better data because the gathering is done over a longer time frame.

As per Carrillo &  Pérez (2011), the usefulness of the CA system in facilitating student learning was has been found to be overwhelming. In the study, the CA system was associated with fewer students’ dropping the course or not taking the exam at the end of the semester, improved academic achievement, better grades, better progress, higher proportion of passouts, and better official qualifications.

In continuous assessment method, the central task of teachers is to provide feedback to their students on a continuous basis. Feedback consists of corrective information and can be termed as a ‘consequence of performance’ (Hattie & Timperley, 2007, p. 81). Given the fact that an effective feedback has the potential to encourage a student to correct mistakes through looking for alternative strategies, searching more information and developing and analytical skills, teachers need to be clear about what is the meaning of feedback, types of effective feedback, and their effectiveness in promoting student’s learning (Harlen, 2005; Harlen & Gardner, 2006; Hattie & Timperley, 2007). Hattie & Timperley (2007) have identified three potential outcomes of an effective feedback, namely increased motivation to improve performance, increased effort (more relevant for challenging tasks) to look for better strategies/techniques to complete the task, and increased engagement. Continuous evaluation improves learners’ ‘error detection-skills’ and ‘self-regulatory proficiencies’ (Hattie & Timperley, 2007, p. 86). Teachers can also help students in clarifying their goals and enhancing commitment/effort through effective feedback; moreover, teachers may encourage students in seeking more challenging tasks’ (Hattie & Timperley, 2007, p. 88).

The basis of continuous assessment depends on multiple factors, such as a suitable curricula design; appropriate instructional methods/pedagogic styles; the availability of teachers and resources, an appropriate learning environment, the emphasis on student-teacher interactions; the motivation of students and teachers, the autonomy of students and teachers; and self-reflection (student and teacher) (Carles, 2005; Harlen, 2005; Harlen & Gardner, 2006; Hattie & Timperley, 2007). ARG (2002) has identified 10 key principles of continuous assessment for learning, such as:

1. Effective planning encompassing all aspects of assessment practices
2. Main focus is on how students learn
3. Emphasis on classroom practice
4. Teachers need to acquire intensive professional skills
5. It is a constructive approach
6. Focuses on improving motivation (for students and teachers)
7. Focuses on clarifying/understanding of goals and strategies
8. Learners receive unambiguous guidance on how to improve
9. Promotes students’ self-assessment capability
10. Recognizes the need for educational achievement

As evident from above, CA is a more collaborative and continuous process than summative assessment. The objective is different, it is a process which supports and improves the overall learning. It helps both the students and the teachers become more proactive in their approach. The continuous nature of assessment helps in generating a more real-time support by the teachers so that corrective action can be taken before it is too late.

From the above literature review, it becomes evident that the adoption of continuous assessment approach requires considerable planning, resources, empowerment, and commitment.